1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to the packaging of cigarettes and particularly to enhancing the speed and efficiency of performance of a drying step, which results in the curing of an adhesive which has been applied to a folded outer wrapper, in order to complete the formation of a cigarette package. More specifically, the present invention relates to cigarette packaging apparatus, especially apparatus which is employed in the formation of hinged-lid-packages, wherein the glued and folded packs arrive at a drying station on a pair of conveyors and are transferred from the conveyors into a drying turret which may have multiple stages. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While not limited thereto in its utility, the present invention is particularly well suited for employment in the packaging of cigarettes in so-called hinged lid packs. In the formation of such a pack, individual cigarettes are formed into a block which is wrapped in an inner paper to form an inner bundle. A hinged-lid box is then folded from a pre-formed blank about the inner bundle and, during the folding process, adhesive is applied to portions of the blank. The thus formed and adhesively coated box is held in a closed position, during a drying step, until the adhesive has cured.
To amplify on the above-briefly described packaging process, cigarettes are delivered via a funnel into cells of a block turret to form blocks. The thus formed cigarette blocks are transferred to cells on a wrapping turret about which an inner-paper is wrapped. The outer box is then folded, from a pre-cut blank, about the inner wrapper and adhesively coated as required. Finally, the boxes which have been folded about the wrapped cigarette blocks are transferred into a drying turret. In the typical packaging operation, the drying turret is a multi-stage device and the formed packs are pushed into a first row or stage and, after an appropriate rotation, are pushed into a second stage or row. After the appropriate drying time, which may dictate that the packs be transferred to a third stage of the drying turret, the completed packages are ejected from the drying turret. An efficient, and thus high speed, packaging process may dictate that the folded and glued cigarette packs arrive at the drying station on a pair of conveyors. Obviously, where there are two parallel package formation lines, a separate drying turret may be installed for each conveyor. The use of two drying turrets, however, is expensive and occupies substantial floor space. As an alternative, a single drying turret may be associated with both conveyors with the turret being filled at two separated points corresponding to the ends of the conveyors. The latter arrangement, however, leads to the undesirable result of unequal dwell times for the packs in the drying turret.